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Professional Development: The Role of Education Reps

Author

Amanda Dumas, FLMI, ASRI, ACS, CLTC
Senior Specialist
LIMRA and LOMA
adumas@loma.org

October 2024

Growth and growing talent go hand in hand as top priorities for insurance industry leaders today, according to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and LIMRA’s 2023 biennial survey of life insurance executives. Industry leaders not only face the challenge of growing business in a highly competitive marketplace, but they also must deal with the fact that some 50 percent of the current industry workforce will retire over the next 12 years, according to an Insurance Journal article citing 2021 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Thus, attracting and retaining talent is one of the six opportunities identified by executives in the survey that insurers should address.

One key approach to driving talent engagement and retention is professional development.

Since its founding in 1924, LOMA has been dedicated to advancing the industry by providing professionals with the education and resources necessary to navigate an ever-changing landscape. Central to this mission are the education representatives (education reps), who play a crucial role in guiding learners within their companies and fostering a culture of continuous learning.

Education Rep Survey

To stay attuned to the needs of our member companies and their professionals, we periodically survey education reps. The latest survey, conducted in July 2024, offers a current perspective on the ways education reps are promoting LOMA's educational programs as well as evolving trends within member companies.

Program Promotion

The 2024 survey reveals that 65 percent of responding education reps use internal emails to promote the value of LOMA education programs, making it the most popular method of communication. Following closely, 45 percent of education reps direct their colleagues to intranet pages, while 27 percent use presentations to leadership as a means of promotion. These methods highlight the importance of internal communication channels when driving awareness and participation in education and professional development programs.

For the first time, the 2024 survey included questions about social media usage, and the results were promising. Seventeen percent of education reps use public social media platforms to promote learners’ accomplishments, while 14 percent leverage internal social media tools to promote LOMA education programs. This indicates a growing recognition of the role social media can play in recognizing professional development and the importance of publicly celebrating educational milestones.

Despite the growing use of digital platforms, traditional methods of promotion still play a significant role. Popular activities, such as hosting in-person education fairs and offering virtual Break and Educate sessions, through which employees learn about educational opportunities during a lunch break or other team activity, demonstrate their importance to the overall strategy of promoting educational offerings in organizations.

Recognition and Rewards

Recognition of employee achievements is another critical component of fostering a culture of engagement and continuous learning. Engaged workers “are more likely to stay with their employers,” according to a meta-analysis article published by Gallup. “Highly engaged business units achieve a 43% difference in turnover.”

“Employees want to remain with employers that invest in their workforce by providing learning opportunities and by helping employees become more successful in their careers,” according to Carie Crane, vice president of professional development, at LIMRA and LOMA.

According to the 2024 educational rep survey, 48 percent of respondent companies reward individual LOMA course completions with a cash bonus. This is an increase from 44 percent in 2020, indicating a heightened appreciation for ongoing educational achievement.

For employees who earn LOMA designations, about 64 percent of companies offer cash bonuses.

In addition to monetary rewards, companies are increasingly recognizing employees with acknowledgment from senior leadership — 51 percent of respondents indicate this practice is prevalent in their companies, nearly double from 27 percent in 2020. Internal celebrations, promotions and recognition in company meetings are also popular methods for honoring employee achievements.

Emphasis on Industry Acumen

Another key finding from the survey is companies’ reliance on LOMA education to improve industry acumen among its professionals. Seventy-three percent of education reps indicate that using LOMA education to enhance industry knowledge resonates strongly with their audiences, up from 65 percent in 2020. This shift underscores the importance of industry-specific education as companies seek to build a knowledgeable and skilled workforce capable of navigating the complexities of the financial services sector.

The survey also highlighted a significant increase in the use of LOMA courses for onboarding new employees. More than 50 percent of respondents reported using LOMA 280/281 (Insurance Principles) and LOMA 290/291 (Insurance Operations) for onboarding, a notable rise from 28 percent and 26 percent, respectively, in 2020. These figures reflect a growing recognition of the value these foundational courses bring to new employee training programs. A Glassdoor report provides further evidence of the importance of a robust onboarding training program, showing that “Organizations with a strong onboarding process improve new hire retention by 82 percent and productivity by over 70 percent.”

Four percent of respondents reported being early adopters of LOMA’s newest educational offering, Industry Advantage, and have implemented it in their new employee onboarding programs. This subscription-based program offers more than 220 short online courses ideal for just-in-time learning. Focused on life insurance, annuities and workplace benefits, these bite-sized modules are designed to increase employee engagement, narrow skills gaps and boost productivity to meet the needs of modern financial services organizations.

Industry Advantage recently received a Brandon Hall Group Gold award for excellence in the “Best Association Professional Development Program” category.

Looking Ahead

Over the past century, the collaboration between LOMA and education reps has helped countless professionals achieve their career goals, adapt to industry changes and contribute to the success of their organizations.

The future promises to bring new challenges and opportunities, but with the continued support of education reps, we are committed to providing industry professionals with the education and knowledge necessary for their personal success and to support the success of their organizations.

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